Purple Beech Damage

Treebeard

Hi all,

I've had this purple beech group for about 4 years now. Every spring without fail it has sprouted profusely... except this year.
The buds were slow in opening, about 1 month later than usual.
When they did open, most of the leaves came out all strange shapes and sizes. Some of them developed brown spots/curly edges within days. Some were HUGE, ie 2x normal size and some were tiny, about 1/4 normal.

The one thing I'm fairly sure it isn't (may be wrong!) is wind damage and/or sunburn. Because of red leaf susceptability to this kind of damage the group is positioned to get only morning sun and virtually no wind.

Any ideas what's gone wrong?

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beech damage 1.jpg (47.5 KB, 75 views)

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Treebeard

another leaf...

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beech damage.jpg (65.5 KB, 70 views)

Treebeard

Here's the group last year (before pruning!)

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fagus sylvatica purpurea group 2001.jpg (66.8 KB, 71 views)

Treebeard

this year. (plastic frog to amuse kids...)

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damaged beech.jpg (61.8 KB, 63 views)

TreeBay

Looks like something happened to it at the budding stage. I can't tell. Could be frost, drying out or something else.

In any case, those leaves look functional, if not attractive. I would not defoliate a beech unless it was at the prime of health (matt speaking from painful experience)

Regards,

Matt.

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Treebeard

Hi,

I think I did let it dry out during winter...
the group's position was on a monkey pole about 2 feet from the house, outside a full length window, hardly gots any rain at all, thinking back now. Obviously not a good position.
Some of the buds didn't even open, they are all hard & dry now.

I suppose this proves the point about dormant trees still needing some water during winter.

The leaves that did come out all have new buds at their bases so fingers crossed for next year.

Would I be tempting fate if I repotted next spring?

Regards,

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TreeBay

If you wanted the best recovery you could move it to a larger container after leaf drop. There are some threads on "growing boxes" here if you search on that subject that will give you some ideas.

The tree will open only as many buds as the living roots can support. So if the roots became dry (or freeze dried) that limits the number of buds that can grow.

If this were mine I would get some organic fertilizer on the surface of the soil. If you can't come by that, I would use bone meal to encourage root development.

When you transplant, check to see if there is any evidence of root rot. If you have good root tips, I would simply transplant the mass to a larger container without breaking open the rootball.

This link from our bonsaiTALK Links page may help you:

How to examine deciduous trees with leaf-out problems

Good luck,

Matt

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Moni

Beech trees can also be susceptible to verticillium wilt which is a fungal disease that survives in the soil for long periods of time. But that usually shows up in trees one limb at a time. You can do a very unscientific test for that by scraping just under the bark of an affected branch and if you see dark lines through the wood, it could be wilt. Since it looks like the damage is pretty well spread out, it probably isn't wilt though.
Whatever it is, I would totally baby those trees. Definitely do what Matt has suggested and put them in a growing environment that will be optimum for them. And watch your watering all year round (I'm shaking my finger at you here)!
Moni

Treebeard

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice.

point taken moni, I hang my head in shame!

Matt, just to make sure I understood, is it bonemeal now or when it's in the growing box?

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk